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Electronic payments for greater economic efficiency is one of the nine focus areas under Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-2020 in its vision to drive Malaysia’s transition to a high value-added, high-income economy with safeguards to preserve financial stability. In Sarawak, the push towards adopting electronic payment solutions (e-payments) such as digital wallets continue with the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) gaining traction towards enhancing the technological landscape of Sarawak’s rural areas. What are some of the progress being made, especially with Sarawak Pay? BizHive Weekly investigates:

“Even with the emergence of technologies, demand for cash worldwide continues to rise. For Malaysia, currency in circulation has increased by around 150 per cent over the past decade. However, if we scale it to the country’s gross domestic product, it has been ranging between 6.1 and 6.9 per cent over the past five years. Thus, despite the headway we have made in advancing e-payments, the persistency of cash among the public and small- and mediumsized businesses remains high.” Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Bank Negara Malaysia governor

“The Sarawak government is investing RM2 billion to develop the state’s digital economy infrastructure. The state had recently launched its digital economy strategy, including plans to develop the digital economy up to 2022. It has also set up Sarawak Multimedia Authority, Sarawak Digital Economy Corp and Sarawak Development Bank to spearhead the various digital economy initiatives. We have launched our own Sarawak Pay which we hope will be widely used in the state.” Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Sarawak Chief Minister

“Several areas have already been identified for Phase 1 of SMA’s telco towers installation. SMA has already identified areas that are in need of improvement in terms of communication networks. For areas with no telecommunications access, transmitters will be developed. For areas with transmitters but weak coverage, they will be upgraded. Phase 1 will see 300 towers being set up before we move on to the next phase.” Carolineson Nosin, Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) Digital Economy Policy, Planning and Monitoring Unit admin officer